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Important seed importation regulations for customers from the United Kingdom

The import of any living plant material (including seed) into the UK is regulated by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

In spring 2022 it was announced that from 1 July 2022 onwards all plants and plant productes (including seeds for sowing) from the EU would have to enter with a phytosanitary certificate to the UK as the final step of the transitional phase. However, in summer 2022 the final deadline of the transitional phase has been suspended by the British Government (*).

This means that until further notice we will keep on doing business as usual and will keep on shipping all seeds from non high priority and non regulated plants to the UK.

(*) "(...) The Government has announced that the remaining import controls on EU goods, including plants and plant products, will no longer be introduced in July of this year. Instead, traders will continue to move their goods from the EU to GB as they do now. This decision does not affect existing controls that were introduced in January 2021 [1] and January 2022 [2]. (...)"

Source: https://planthealthportal.defra.gov.uk/trade/imports/imports-from-the-eu/regulated-plants/#seeds

[1] Since 1 January 2021 seeds from a couple of "high priority plants" cannot be shipped to the UK anymore as they will require additional paperwork and a phytosanitary certificate. The respective items are marked accordingly in our catalogue:
- Capsicum spp. (chili, hot pepper, etc. - including all wild species)
- Helianthus annuus (common sunflower)
- Linum usitatissimum (common flax)

[2] As of 1 January 2022 some additional species are now considered "regulated and notifiable" items, and we are not able to send them anymore to the UK either:
- Prunus spp. (almond, apricot, cherry, peach, plum, etc. - including all wild species)
- Rubus spp. (all raspberries, blackberries, etc. - including all wild species)
- Zea mays (corn - including all wild forms)

External link (DEFRA):
More information on UK seed import regulations

Disclaimer: all of the above information is given without any guarantee of accuracy nor completeness.